


Over The Rainbow

by orphan_account



Category: Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bucky is scaring Tony, F/M, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, I can't stop torturing steve rogers, I'm not planning to conduct a murder, Lots of steve rogers whump, M/M, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Right?, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony wants to kill steve for trying to get killed, maybe character death, that's cruel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25583887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tony Stark is a deaf genius, billionaire, philanthropist who does not give a shit about anyone or anything. Or that's what he keeps telling himself.Things start to change when he meets a handsome blonde in a charity event for veterans.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 26
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

"I really don't know why you are dragging me here, Pep..." Tony groaned as he stalked into the creaky halls of the large building. Honestly, he was scared he would get some kind of infection from being at the place.

Pepper had proposed a new plan for the Maria Stark Foundation. She wanted him to spend a day with some veterans. She had argued it was good for PR when Tony had told her they should just write a cheque for them, which Tony now knew the place needed.

He hardly wanted to stand in front of a bunch of scarred old toads. Let alone watch them snigger as the translator signed for him. Most of the men were almost his father's age and probably had his same view on the deaf.

 _'It'll be great!'_ Pepper signed back looking cross at him.

Tony didn't reply. Maybe he had crossed a line on referring to the vets as mangy old guys.In his defence, his anxiety was not exactly being very kind to him. Still, he submitted to her, like always. He was already on his way to the hall and there was nothing to be earned by complaining.

"I hate you," he complimented Pepper with a kiss on the cheek before climbing on the stage.

Tony scanned the audience. He hadn't exactly made a mistake in forming a prejudice of the veterans. Most of the audience were old men, except for the first couple of seats.

He eyed them carefully, there was a redheaded woman with a bored look on her face. Followed by a sandy haired man wearing a purple shirt with an arrow on the front. Tony couldn't help but wonder if he was sleeping with his eyes open.

On his side was a brunette, with a vaguely murderous look on his eyes and a metal arm. He quickly shifted his gaze to the occupant of the front. He felt a jolt on seeing a handsome blonde chuckling at his direction.

Tony gave him a smirk and introduced himself to the crowd "You know who I am,"

He laughed seeing the crowd going into tumultuous applause, banging their hands after his words. He felt the a knot ease in his stomach as he waited for a moment before starting again.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to talk, here. As my expertise lies in areas which may be a bit out of you reach."

Tony nearly jumped on getting a sharp pinch on his side. Pepper wanted him to tone down and stand firm on the ground it seemed. He glanced at the crowd and felt a bit disappointed on seeing the blonde's lips pursed tightly.

"I'm sorry, you are all very brave men. You too red," he pointed to the young woman with a wink.

Tony turned to Pepper on seeing her shout something back at him.  
He arched an enquiring eyebrow at her. Pepper sighed hiding her face with her hand and signed for him _'Fuck off.'_

Tony looked back at her with a look of utter disbelief. She grinned but tossed a lofty middle finger at him. Tony let out a scowl as the brunet with the metal arm grinned in pleasure. He finally looked back at the blonde and winced on seeing him frown at Tony, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. He stared at the younger man for a moment and cleared his throat to launch into a story.

"Okay, I have a brilliant war story in Afghanistan to enthral you hunka junkas!"

He could feel Pepper let out a sigh of relief on seeing him start on a topic that was anywhere near their purpose. Tony gave her a reassuring smile and climbed down to sit on the edge of the seat. He puted on seeing the unimpressed looks on the audience's face. He chewed on his lip but told himself that he could probably win them back.

"I know I stole half of you guys' thunder. Still, true story..." he muttered wanting to make his exit from the stage. He wouldn't be lying if he said he was feeling a bit shaky after reciting his own horror story.

Still, he believed he had done well enough. He had put the effort to recount his hated memories so that they could find him relatable. He could still feel bile surge into his throat when he thought about Yinsen.

"So, I'm out and no I don't take questions!" He painted a plastic smile on his face and tossed the mic to the guy with the metal arm, strutting out of the hall.

\-----------------------

"I think I did good," Tony told Pepper walking out.

He hadn't even sworn at the crowd at the today. He even told them that he wished good luck in their lives. Reading the look in Pepper's eyes, he felt she pleaded otherwise. Then again, he didn't ever feel the need for others acceptance.

 _'This was worse than the time you got into a fight at the old age home!'_ Pepper signed at him furiously.

Tony scowled. Pepper never saw it from his side. The old man had shoved him for no reason.

All this shit, from STARK Industries to the charity foundations weren't his. He never agreed to any of this. Howard had slammed it on his chest after his death. If it were up to Tony, he was happy to make huge donations for everyone without making a fuss about it.

Don't let your left hand know what your right one did...or something like that.

He jerked to a stop as the blonde from the hall stopped in front of them, his shoes screaming against the floor on stopping suddenly.

"What's up, cupcake?" Tony asked him flippantly.

To his surprise, the blonde signed back to him _'Who do you think you are?'_

Tony made a point of talk in back to him in words. He wasn't going to let some shiny ass soldier make him feel small. "Tony Stark?"

The blonde pulled his lips into a thin line, his ocean blue eyes glowering with anger.

 _'Why did you have to make a show?'_ He signed at him again.

"Because you asked me to? I have a huge heart...I mean I did have palpitation and stuff but still..." He rambled on paisley.

He could see the anger spreading in the blonde's face. Which somehow angered him more. Who the hell was he to question him? Tony was brought back from his thoughts as the blonde snapped his fingers at Tony.

He quickly whipped his head to Pepper, staring at her in disbelief "Did he just snap at me?" He asked her in annoyance.

She put a finger to her lip, asking him to be silent. Tony glared at her, now she was putting the blame on him. He was the person getting shouted at by some random guy and she was finding fault in him?

 _'Tony, he's still talking."_ She signed with a frown, pointing to the tall blond once again.

Tony took a turn to find that the blonde was still on his charade signing at him in an almost threatening manner.

"Why don't you speak up, I'm more of a listener," Tony joked.

The blonde froze to the ground, eyeing him with a weird look in his blue eyes. He began to sign again but Tony insisted squeezing his eyes shut "Only words, no actions."

He smirked on seeing the quizzical look on his eyes. He seemed to have done his homework. He looked like he understood that Tony Stark wouldn't hear a word that he said.

"What's the matter, soldier? Someone shot your voice box out in Normandy?" He asked, fake sympathy swirling in his face.

Tony took a step back on seeing the look on the soldier's face. He looked like he was either going to strangle him or breakdown on the floor. Tony winced hard as Pepper tried to whirl him around to face her but he ignored her and kept staring at the taller man.

The blonde took a deep, shaky breath as though trying to keep himself in control. He shot Tony a look of atmost revulsion and walked off.

"Whoosh!" Tony exhaled turning to Pepper.

He frowned on seeing her eyes sparkle with tears. He arched an eyebrow at her.She blinked back her tears and signed at him _'He's a mute.'_  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos! 
> 
> Tony was not born deaf plus he's a genius so he knows how to talk

Tony felt the world spin around him. He had finally achieved the biggest feat. He had finally become the world's biggest asshole.

 _'How?'_ Tony signed, wishing that he was just having a nightmare in his lab. He would wake up any moment now and find out he hadn't actually bullied a mute war hero.

 _'He got shot in the throat.'_  
Pepper signed.

Tony buried his face in his hand and gripped Pepper's arm to stop himself from faltering down to the floor. He had joked about the blond having his voice box shot out. This was definitely the point that reserved him a seat in Lucifer's harem, the brunet thought rubbing his face feverishly.

He held up a hand with a shudder and signed for his assistant to wait as he walked back to the hall. It didn't matter if the young vet forgave him or not, Tony didn't want to feed his anxiety further by not even making an attempt to apologise.

He stopped short to survey the scene inside the hall. The blond was being put in a friendly headlock by the guy with the metal arm. They were closely followed by the redhead and the guy with sandy hair.

Tony cleared his throat and went up to them with a shaky smile on his lips, the whole group quickly turned hostile on seeing him. He raised his arms in defeat.

The blond gently pushed metal armed guy back and moved to the front, his face covered with a frown that unexpectedly wounded Tony.

"Steve, right?" He asked reading the card pinned against the blond's broad chest. Steve gave him a small nod and pointed to his card.

"I'm deaf," Tony confessed nervously as if Steve wasn't aware of his shortcoming at all. To his surprise, instead of the blond, the guy with the arrow shirt reacted to his confession.

 _'I'm almost deaf too!'_ He signed excitedly and held out a fist for Tony to bump. He sighed but bumped his fist.

"Good job, Legolas," he muttered, to Clint Barton, according to the ID hanging loosely on the man's purple t-shirt.

Tony glanced up t againo see that Steve was still glowering at him. He couldn't exactly blame him but it still felt like a heavy blow in the guts.

"C'mon, I didn't know," he told him in what he hoped was an apologetic tone.

Steve arched an eyebrow at him, looking confused at the remark.

 _'I didn't know you were mute,'_ He signed at him.

For a moment, Tony felt like Steve's face had mollified, the anger leaking out of his face.

 _'Doesn't make a difference,'_ He signed back at him, the solemn expression returning to his face.

 _'C'mon, I made a mistake. Maybe.'_ He signed, even though Tony wasn't exactly sure if he had actually made a mistake.

Steve groaned in exasperation _'You can't even admit your mistake!'_ He signed, looking at him with a miserable expression on his face.

Tony turned to see if the others were watching them and let out a snort as they turned around quickly on seeing him whirl back.

 _'I'm sorry. Happy now?'_ He signed back feeling a ton of coal plunk down to his stomach. It wasn't very frequently that Tony Stark apologised to people. He only apologised to people he cared for, which rounded it down to Pepper, Rhodey and maybe his mother.

Tony shrugged on seeing a small smile grow on the blonde's lips. It wasn't even a smirk of triumph or anything. He just seemed to be very satisfied with Tony's apology.

Tony nodded at him, rollling his eyes and signed _'You're a stubborn guy. Aren't you soldier?'_

Tony almost jumped back on seeing a smug smile break open on Steve's face. It wasn't one of his polite smiles. This was a goofy grin, that was too big for his face. In his opinion, the smile took ten years from the guy's face.

 _'Wanna get a cup of coffee?'_ Steve signed at him, pointing to the coffee shop in the corner.

"Can't say no to that." He clapped his hands.

\-----------------------  
Tony sat on one of the creaky, wooden chairs outside the small coffee stall, waiting for Steve to return with his coffee. It didn't matter what Pepper he was donating to this place. This was no place for humans to live, let alone war heroes.

Tony glanced up to see Steve returning with coffee in both his hands. He couldn't help but realise that the longer he stared at Steve the more attractive he looked.

He had a pretty awesome body, even though he seemed to have wasted some of his muscles away after his discharge. Still, his sharp features, ocean eyes and perfect pearly white smile more than made up for the shortcoming.

Tony beamed as the blond handed him a cup and fell back into the chair opposite him. They sipped on the coffee silently until Tony decided to break the silence.

' _What's your regiment?'_ He signed, licking the rim of the paper cup in his hand awkwardly.

To his surprise, Steve dug inside his turtleneck and pulled off a chain, tossing it to Tony.

He picked it up in his hands to read the words engraved in the dog tag.

_**Captain Steve Rogers** _

_**Code name: Captain America** _

_**Regiment: 107** _

Tony gave it back to him with an amazed look in his face. He hadn't known that Steve was a captain. He had just guessed he was a lieutenant or sergeant. Eitherway, he looked way too young to have been a captain.

Steve seemed to have read along the same lines because he quickly signed _'The captain is honorary,'_

Tony nodded at him and asked, "For taking a shot, right?"

Steve nodded. He didn't exactly look thrilled on remembering his extremely heroic past. Tony shamelessly tried to steal a gaze at his throat. He didn't want to hurt him or anything, he was just curious to see if his throat looked normal. He couldn't see anything since Steve was wearing a turtleneck, which hid his throat well.

 _'You have a scar or something?'_ He signed at him awkwardly. A move which Tony would deeply regret a moment later.

Steve stared at him for a moment looking unsure but licked his lips nervously and pulled the turtleneck down. Tony cursed himself and glanced down feeling his breakfast rise up his throat on seeing the jagged scar which was yet to heal. He confirmed that the scar was still healing on seeing him wince on sipping the coffee.

 _'If you heard my story, you would know I had a hole in my chest,'_ Tony tried to comfort him.

 _'Now you don't?'_ Steve signed at him looking plain confused.

Tony smirked at him and tapped at his chest for the arc reactor to glow up. His stomach took a double-take on seeing the look of admiration on Steve's face. He looked like he would start throwing up hearts any moment now.

 _'You like it?'_ Tony signed battling his eyelashes at the man flirtatiously.

Steve nodded eagerly and pointed to the arc reactor on his chest and then pulled it back to swirl it over his face. Tony tried to fight down the warmth creeping upto his face as Steve gazed at his arc reactor, seeming to be absorbed by it's beauty.

Steve thought his arc reactor was beautiful, that was almost the same as calling Tony beautiful.

 _'Thanks, I think you're beautiful too,'_ he loftily flirted with the soldier, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach.

Steve unlike Tony had no reservations. His face almost resembled the shade of a beacon on hearing him flirt.Tony opened his mouth to say something more but to his annoyance the redheaded woman ran up to them.

He shot him an unimpressed look and turned to Steve. Tony waited for something to happen as she rambled on with the blonde at a surprising speed.

He glanced down in surprise as Steve looked at him with a guilty look in his face. He nearly jumped out of the seat as the blond placed an arm on his shoulder quickly.

 _'Tony, I have to rush. It was nice meeting you. Okay?'_ He signed quickly.

He nodded but before he could show him that he didn't give a shit if he left him alone, he sprinted away with red. Tony huffed in his seat, feeling emptier than he had felt fo a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony spinned around in the chair for a while, waiting for Pepper to finish her work. But she seemed to be extremely busy or ignoring him. He waited for a while wondering if she would ask him something but she just continued to type on her computer as if he was invisible.

"Pep?" He finally snapped, slamming the paperweight down on her table.

Pepper glanced up from the paperwork and stared at him sternly. She tapped her pen impatiently as Tony continued to spinning the paperweight, determined not to look at her.

Losing her patience she snatched the paperweight from his hand and glared at him.

 _'Is wanting to see someone again, desperate?'_ He signed at her.

Tony didn't want to tell her anything but it was kind of getting dreadful. He had started to have very questionable dreams about a blonde veteran.

Half of them show cases a very shirtless Steve, with a body that reminded him of the Greek god Apollo.Tony could swear that he even went on to touch Steve's ridiculously thick eyelashes in one of his dreams. Either way, his mind was going completely crazy.

 _'You want to see someone again?'_ She signed back to him looking both shocked and confused.

He scowled. Pepper looked like he had asked her to throw a puppy inside a well.He wondered if Pepper thought that he was a heartless bastard too. Which would completely suck because she and Rhodey were the only person whom he believed, thought Tony Stark has a heart.

 _'It's just...Can we go to the place with vets again?'_ He signed at her hopefully and tried not to wilt under Pepper's admonishing stare.

She put her pen down and signed with a deadpan expression _'Is it the redhead?'_

Tomy choked out in indignation. Even though she did look like she could win a miss universe title. She also looked like her talent would be snatching lollipops from little kids as a hobby. Unlike Steve, who looked like his idea of a good time was volunteering in a hospital.

"Of course not, triple imposter." He scowled at her.

 _'Then who?'_ Pepper asked him, he could see she was buzzing with curiosity.

Tony sighed. He wondered if the whole thing was a mistake. He was trying to go after a guy who he didn't even know well. Besides, Steve looked like he was in love with both the redhead and metal arm.

Tony stopped wandering in his thoughts abruptly as Pepper swung him towards her by the arm.

 _'What?'_ He signed at her, rolling his eyes annoyed.

Pepper pursed his lips which slowly turned into a sly smile but signed at him curtly _'You can come with me for the weekly rounds. If you promise to behave.'_

Tony was pretty fond of the idea. He wasn't going to gawk at Steve Rogers. No, he was just going to supervise his assistant. He was a very efficient and responsible official who was going to take care of his work.

 _'Only if you behave!'_ She signed at him again.

He nodded waving her off and walked out, slamming the door at her face. God did he love his extremely talented, resourceful, beautiful assistant/best friend.

\-----------------------

Tony peeked into the hall and felt his face fall. There was no Steve. Actually, there wasn't a single person in his group. Only a few old men and women playing cards.

He stalked around the hall with Pepper, trying not to curse himself. He had trapped himself inside the room with some old veterans for a whole day.

He jumped back as someone snapped their fingers in his face. He let out a groan seeing the redhead.

 _'Who are you looking for?'_ She signed at him with a murderous expression on her face.

He shrugged not exactly wanting to tell her anything. What if he ended up saying that he was looking for her boyfriend?

 _'Rogers?'_ She signed at him with a smirk on her face, which he found both extremely seductive and scary at the same time.

He shrugged not giving her an exact answer. She gave him a sharp jab in the ribs and pointed to the left. Tony found out with a jolt that Steve was talking to someone in the corridor.

 _'Thanks...'_ He signed. Tony waited for a moment, hoping that she would introduce herself like normal human beings.

 _'Natasha,'_ the fiery-haired woman signed walking away.

\------------

Tony eyed Steve carefully stepping forward silently. He looked gloomy with an almost defeated expression on his face.

"Banner?" Tony blurted out in joy, seeing the curly-haired brunette standing with his back towards him. The brunet turned to Tony and gave him a shaky smile.

 _'Why are you here?'_ He signed at him surprised.

Bruce glanced up at Steve and signed at him _'Volunteer work,'_

Before Tony could ask him anything more, he gave Steve a reassuring punch and walked away.

He turned to stare at him indignantly. After finishing a PhD together, Tony felt that he deserved a goodbye at the very least. Nonetheless, Tony looked back at Steve with a smile.

"Captain," He greeted him with a smirk.

He smiled back at him warmly and signed _'Why are you here, Tony?'_

He pointed to Pepper and Steve shrugged in recognition. Tony stared at Steve's eyes for a while, not failing to recognize how much they resembled the shades of an ocean.

Finally, Tony tried to test his luck. Nothing could be more painful than two grown men gazing into each other's eyes. Right?

 _'Cup of coffee?'_ He signed at Steve hopefully.

He felt himself get a stroke on seeing Steve grimace. This was the first time someone had rejected Tony Stark.

He clapped his hands on his thigh, unaware about what he was supposed to do. This wasn't something up in his area of expertise. It was usually Tony who broke the hearts of pretty guys and gals by rejecting. Nobody wanted to reject Tony Stark.

"Quick and painful," he muttered woefully and tried to make a run from Steve. He should probably move to someplace far away, like Timbuktu.

Steve nudged Tony on the arm to bring him back from his thoughts. He tried to assure him that it was okay and he didn't need to worry but the blond stopped him quickly.

Tony looked at him confused and it dawned on him only when Steve drew an imaginary line in front of his throat which was hidden under a scarf.

"Hurts?" Tony asked, jabbing both his index fingers together.

Steve nodded.

He let out a sigh of relief. He knew he was being an asshole by doing so, still, Steve didn't hate him.

\------------

Tony sipped on his coffee as Steve explained how they had tried to take the stitches off his throat but they were beginning to get infected.

 _'How do you eat?'_ Tony asked him confused.

He could read how much he resented not being able to eat or drink like other when Steve shuddered and signed _'Tubes,'_

Tony nodded feeling extremely sorry for him. He remembered how pissed he had felt not being able to eat on his own at his brief stint at the hospital.

Then again it Mus be nothing compared to Steve's condition. Considering that Tony was treated in a leading hospital owned and run by his own team. Unlike Steve who was getting treated under a government founded clinic which hardly functioned.

 _'You'll get better,'_ Tony tried to assure him awkwardly and tapped his hand.

Steve smiled at him again looking hopeful. Tony shrugged, this wasn't exactly his plan when he visualized meeting up with Steve.

First thing, he had imagined Steve would be laughing at something funny he had said and not biting his lip to push back tears.

 _'You wanna go out?'_ Tony signed abruptly.

Steve looked at him, he seemed suspicious and amused as he searched if he was laying some kind of bait.

 _'Where to?'_ He signed.

Tony shrugged. He hadn't even thought about the place. He just wanted to spend some time with Steve outside the coffee place.

 _'The daunting streets of New York City?'_ He signed at him cautiously.

Steve chuckled at him, his eyes twinkling as he fixed his gaze on Tony's eyes.

"Come on! Let's raid the big apple," he teased again with a grin.

\------------

To Tony's pleasure, there was some kind of carnival going on near NYC.

He agreed with himself that a carnival was one of the best places to take a person on a first date.

Tony figured that telling him that this was a date was kind of a fifth date revelation, so he kept his mouth shut.

 _'Tony Stark goes to carnivals?'_ Steve signed at him looking deeply amused.

Tony rolled his eyes but pulled him towards the high striker, muttering "Outrageous..."

The gangly guy at the counter passed Tony two tickets in exchange for the money.

He rolled the sleeves of his shirt and made a big show of taking the hammer.He smirked as Steve beamed at him. Tony put the hammer down with all the power he could muster.

He pursed his lips as the guy gave him a pack of chewing gum for hitting a _75._ Of course he wouldn't be able to move his arms for a week for a wad of gun.

He beckoned for Steve to go ahead and take the hammer but he seemed reluctant and hung around in the back.

Tony brushed his thumb against his chest and moved his fist forward nudging him to go and try it out.

Steve looked at him surprised but stayed back. After a lot of pushing and pleading by Tony, he stepped forward.

He stared with a grin as Steve shot him a look but pulled the heavy hammer in his hand. He heaved the hammer up and brought it down with such force that Tony almost flew backwards.

He could feel both a tinge of pride and jealousy swell inside himself as the puck flew past his _75_ and hit the top of the meter.

The guy near the counter muttered something under his breath and took the hammer away from Steve using both his hands.

Tony felt fury surging inside him as the whole crowd ogled at Steve. He frowned and edged towards the blonde, pulling on the sleeve of his coat. Nobody was allowed to touch his...well, Steve.

The guy came back and handed Steve a ridiculously big pink fedora with tassels hanging everywhere.Tony failed to hide a laugh, making Steve turn to him.

He quirked an eyebrow at him mischievously and pressed the hat on Tony's head.

 _'How do I look honey?'_ He signed battling his eyelids at Steve flirtily.

Steve once again swirled his hand over his face signing beautiful and did a chef's kiss for Tony.

\--------------------

They played with the toy guns for a while. To Tony's relief, both of them were equally talented at it and kept reaping in tickets.

Steve finally pulled him away after getting stink eyes from a bunch of eight-year-olds and their parents in the waiting line.

The rest of the activities outside were more in Steve's forte and definitely not in his. Making him suggest they could get a ride in the Ferris wheel but Steve seemed to have some kind of irrational fear against them and Tony didn't want to push him further.

He finally dragged the blonde to a space workshop. Something he was sure Steve couldn't top him in. Tony had to say, the displays and write-ups were pretty advanced for a workshop in a huge circus tent.

While gawking at Andromeda's poster issued by NASA, Tony felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Steve staring at him with a troubled expression on his face.

 _'You alright buddy?'_ Tony signed confused on seeing him run a hand to his chest.

 _'Can I sit for a while?'_ He signed at him.

Tony nodded staring at him. He was getting scared of seeing the blue tinge on Steve's lips.

He joined him on a bench as he heaved to get his breath back. "Does this always happen?" He asked him concerned.

Steve shook his head and signed _'Just a bit tired,'_

Tony stared at him concerned but got his own breath back on seeing the panic drain from Steve's face as he sat up looking a bit more comfortable.

He ran his fist in a circle around his chest He apologised to Tony looking truly miserable.

"Shut up!" He snapped at him half angrily.

Tony figured it was time to go back, it really wasn't worth the trouble to stay there.

"Call it a day?" Tony asked pulling him up.

Steve nodded staring at the muddy floor gloomily. He whipped his head up at him and signed 'I really enjoyed your company, Tony,'

Tony grinned at him. He was truly overjoyed at the idea of Steve enjoying his time with him. That was the first step for everything he wanted, wasn't it?

 _'Yeah?'_ He signed arching one of his eyebrows up.

Steve nodded with a small smile on his lips and signed again _'It was my best day since all that happened,'_

Tony felt the weird need to both look away from Steve's lips and crash his lips into them.

He then reasoned, he would get in trouble for taking his breath away, no puns intended.

Tony beamed "Thanks, big guy,"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be very domestic Steve and Tony again but I promise other stuff will come soon.
> 
> If you like the chapter let me know. Constructive criticism or any kind of feedback is very much appreciated.
> 
> But if I get a mean comment I'll delete it because I'm tired of having anxiety attacks for no reason.
> 
> Anyways, I love y'all and you can shout at me on Tumblr at starkspangledsoldier

Tony slowly slid inside the building, feeling nervous but not terrified as usual. He had figured that he no longer needed Pepper, since his little playdate with Steve had gone well.

He had gone home with stars in his eyes that night, he had been so happy that even Pepper gave him weird looks. He spent about five debriefing meetings dreaming about the blond, wondering if it was too pathetic to see him again the next day. 

Finally he had decided to stop being an idiot and went to his lab, distracting himself for until he met Steve again.

Tony froze as he placed a too inside the hall on seeing the unusual pair of triple imposter and metal arm on the couch. He quickly hid behind the door as he watched the unusual pair.

Natasha's face looked as serious he had ever seen and that spoke volumes since she always looked murderous. Tony looked at them in shock as they both hugged and he knew it wasn't exactly a pick me up hug either.

Barnes had his good arm placed on her thigh and she didn't seem exactly mad at him. The woman placed her hands on the side of his head and pulled him into a kiss.

Tony crouched down behind the door and clasped his mouth shut, trying not to scream out. He finally came out of his hiding place on seeing them break apart and sit casually.

 _'How long have you been spying, Stark?'_ Natasha signed, her moss green eyes filled with scorn.

He scowled at her indignantly but Barnes held his arm up to sign something for Tony.

 _'You here to see Steve?'_ He signed with a grave look in his stormy eyes.

Tony rubbed his knuckles, feeling nervous for someone reason but nodded. He felt like a sixteen year old all over again.

 _'Listen, Stark. You don't know anything about him,'_ Natasha signed with a solemn expression on her face.

He groaned at her and asked, "Are you gonna give me the cancer kid speech?"

He shrugged a bit, on seeing a storm of emotions in her usually blank face, he had the eerie feeling that he might have crossed a line but she seemed pretty unfazed.

Tony took a quick step to the back as Barnes pounced on him with a very dangerous and untamed look in his eyes.

 _'I don't care about you, Stark but if you hurt my brother...'_ He stopped signing but Tony supposed the metal fist aimed at his nose made the point.

He nodded but made a point "I don't plan to hurt Steve. Ever!"

Barnes looked at him for a moment. Tony recognized the look, it was the same one the fathers gave, when Tony went to pick up their darlings.

Barnes seemed to want to shove him away from Steve but also seemed to know that he had no right to do that.

 _'I'll show you to his room,'_ He signed walking off without even waiting to see if Tony was following him.

\-----------------------

"Punk, coming in!" Bucky snapped racking at his brother's door for the third time.

He looked at Stark for a moment wondering why he looked so blank. He bit his lip on remembering he couldn't hear a thing.

 _'Go in,'_ he signed and walked off quickly.

Tony shrugged as the taller brunet stomped away. He might have mistaken it but it felt as if Barnes' eyes had softened a bit before storming away.

Taking a deep breath he slid into the bedroom. He offered a guilty smile to Bruce who was fiddling with some tubes and tried to give a reassuring look to Steve who looked like he had gone through hell and back.

Tony noticed that he had an intravenous line stuck to his hand but he didn't understand why he had a G-tube inside him.

"What's with the G-tube, Banner?" Tony asked the doctor feeling a bit confused.

 _'He can't even drink water. What do you think it's for?'_ He signed at him seeming annoyed.

Tony thought that he was more annoyed at how slow Steve's healing process was than at him.

"Won't he lose weight? Without no food?" He asked again, leaning onto the door.

Bruce seemed to be in a very snappy mood because he shot him a look so sharp Tony winced.

' _I'll worry about that!'_ He jabbed his fingers at him furiously.

Tony scowled and walked over to Steve, who was staring to the front with a glossy look In his eyes.

"I don't know, how you just assume that he won't poison you," Tony told him snarkily, with a grin on his face.

He shrugged in disappointment on not getting the usual warm smile from Steve. He continued to stare to the front as though he hadn't heard Tony.

He tried to match Steve's gaze and felt his own lips tremble on seeing a military uniform hung on the wall.

He knew exactly what Steve was feeling. His heart was aching to put the uniform again and go back to strategizing and winning wars. But he couldn't. All he could do was sit in his room with a hurting body, getting medicines pumped up his belly.

"It's rude to act deaf with a deaf dude," Tony tried to cheer him up with a joke again.

To his surprise, he glanced at him, his ocean blue eyes fill with shock as though he had realized Tony was sitting in his room, only then.

Tony opened his mouth to say something but Steve just ignored him and started to frantically claw at his huge bed. Tony looked on confused until he caught another look of Steve's severed throat.

Wincing, he realized that Steve was wearing a V-neck instead of his usual turtlenecks. Now that he had seen the dirty scar, Tony couldn't put his eyes on anything else. Every time he tried to look at Steve, all he could see was the horrifying scar just staring at his face.

"Whoa!" Tony jumped up and tried to push Steve back to the bed. Which wasn't very hard, considering that he had already crumbled back because of pain.

 _'Can I get you another shirt?'_ Tony signed at him trying not to act unkind.

Steve squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He could even see a tick appearing on his jaw.

 _'Please,'_ The blonde moved a weak hand over his sternum, looking as though he would want nothing more than to turn invisible at the moment.

\--------------------  
Bruce had hurried himself out of the room after making sure that Steve had everything that was needed to keep his condition from deteriorating. Leaving Tony alone with a heartbroken Steve.  
 _'I wasn't always this helpless,'_ Steve signed, his throat now well hidden under the thick fleece.

"I figured," Tony mused, staring at the medals decked on the table in awe.

Rhodey probably had a few good years on Steve. Still, he only had half of the medals he did.   
Steve seemed to own every medal their country could come up with. Hell, Tony could swear he had even caught a few honorary medals from other countries too.

 _'I miss having a mission. All this seems pointless,'_ Steve signed at him depressed and vaguely pointed to the bed.

"You mean getting back healthy?" Tony mocked him with a smirk, even though he knew exactly what the younger man was going through.

Steve hung his head low and signed again his blue eyes not reaching Tony like usual _'This is not me, Tony. You've only met Steve Rogers, you have never met Captain America,'_

"I think I prefer you Rogers. Shmaptain Shamerica sounds like a dickhead..." Tony joked punching him gently on the arm.

Tony felt butterflies fly in his as Steve laughed hard at his stupid joke but the butterflies quickly shed their wings pretty quickly, as tears started to spill from his eyes. He slid closer to Steve om the bed and wrapped a protective arm around him.

Tear were streaming through the blonde's eyes non-stop."Steve?" Tony asked in an unsteady voice.

 _'I lost everything,'_ He signed, not even bothering to look up at him.  
Before Tony could stop himself, his hand whipped out and smacked Steve on the head.He glanced up at Tony looking confused at the act of aggression from the smaller brunet.

"You have your friends," Tomy pointed out to him.

Steve said nothing but stared at him. Tony licked his lips nervously, there were teardrops sitting on Steve's eyelashes.

Somehow, Tony stupidly reminisced seeing the round drops of dew sitting on grass blades.

"You have me," He added on.

 _'Who are you, Tony?'_ Steve signed at him slowly, his eyes moistened and soft.

Tony gulped swallowing the lump within his throat. His eyes now hooked onto Steve's eyes, reminding him of a clear, beautiful ocean.

He felt like he would have to add an exponent on the word beautiful, because Steve's eyes were really the most breath taking thing Tony had ever come across.

 _'I think that's for you to decide,'_ He signed feeling his hands go unusually clammy.

Tony felt thrill surge up his insides on realizing that his lips weren't the only ones moving. He could almost feel Steve's breath. It was fresh and had the scent of peppermint.

\--------------------

Just ad his lip stroked against Tony's Steve jerked his head back quickly in horror. He must have been out of his mind. Arguing with himself that it wouldn't hurt anyone to kiss Tony.

"Excuse me!" Tony snapped in frustration, as he almost fell down, face flat on the bed.

Steve shook his head and signed again circling his fist over his heart to apologise _'I can't do that, Tony."_

"You don't like me?" Tony snapped at him stubbornly and crossed his arms over his chest, looking like an indignant and adorable five-year old.

Steve shook his head again. Of course he liked Tony. He couldn't get him out of his mind for weeks.

"You're not gonna date me because if a stupid scar in your throat?" He snapped again.

Steve felt the words burn inside his ears but decided to let it slide. He signed _'You don't understand, Tony,'_

"That you're insecure? I understand. It's fine for me." He huffed out.

 _'I could get worse. I could probably get killed of a stupid cold,'_ He signed miserably.

Tony looked at him confused. Steve didn't blame him, he had the same look when Bruce explained it to him.

 _'My lungs and throat are vandalised. They can't withhold anything. I could get a bout of pneumonia from a cold shower,'_ He explained to him.

Tony stared at him for a while as though waiting for him to shout April's Fool and kiss him again.

"I don't care." He announced after a pause.

Steve smiled at him warmly, taken by the man's conviction but he signed _'I know, but I do care.'_

Tony sighed, as though he was tired from the conversation they were having.

"I know I can't win with a thickheaded bastard like you," Tony scratched his goatee cautiously.

Steve chuckled _'_ _Afraid not,'_

"I'll wait till Banner repairs you," He announced loudly getting up from the bed.

Steve smiled at him fondly as he walked off and slammed the door shut loudly. He fell back on to the pillow, wondering how he had managed to keep his eyes open with the heavy pills Bruce had put inside him.

His eyelids slammed down like shutters and his brain screamed at him to fall asleep.He flashed his eyes open in shock on hearing a loud voice of someone kicking his door open. He blinked a few times to see the blurry figure of Tony Stark at his doorway.

He jabbed his finger to the wall and yelled "If I don't make out with you against that wall. I'll donate my whole fortune to Happy!"

Even with a excruciatingly painful throat, Steve couldn't help but laugh hard at Tony.

The look of indignation made him laugh even more that he started to taste blood after falling into a coughing fit.

Finally, Bruce resurfaced at the doorway and yanked Tony away from his room.

After months, Steve Rogers fell back to him bed contented feeling a pleasant buzz spread inside his from head to toe.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the incredibly late update! I had some stuff to clear out...Also, I'm so very grateful for the kudos and especially the comments.
> 
> I know I'm not great at replying to the comments but I'm just gonna let you know that your comments usually make my day.xoxo

Pepper slipped the metal mask covering Tony's face down and glared at him angrily. Tony decided to ignore her until she cooled off and went off to tend to DUM-E.

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, whirling him around she signed _'What's you plan, Tony?'_

He shrugged but brainstormed to remember if he had done anything wrong in the past week. He shrugged, not being able to remember even any bad press.

The week had gone remarkably well, he went to one or two debriefings. Worked on the arc reactor and spend enough time with Steve that Natasha no longer sighed at him and Clint and himself had worked on a secret handshake.

"My current plan is not to have any plan." He told her quickly and welded DUM-E's arm open, revealing a number of complex wires.

She narrowed her eyes down to slits and glared at him again, clasping her arms in the front stubbornly.

"Am I missing something?" He asked her feeling like he was missing a huge chunk of the conversation.

 _'Everything. I don't know if you remember but you're the head of STARK Industries!'_ She signed at him angrily.

Tony slammed DUM-E shut and shoved him away, feeling pride swell up his chest as the robotic arm went off waving more smoothly. He couldn't help but stifle a groan as Pepper pounced on him like a huntress attacking her prey.

 _'Either you're at the lab tinkering scrap metal or you're with some veterans!'_ She pointed out, her eyes gleaming at him accusatively.

"Outrageous and I can't just dump my social life!" He snapped at her acting as though he was extremely affronted. Although, he wasn't extremely pleased about calling Steve 'some veteran'.

He winced painfully as she shook him hard by his shoulder, his heart nearly burst into shards as she advanced to bursting into tears and sank down to her chair.

"Pep?" He asked her gently, crawling over to the chair. He pulled her arm back slowly, revealing her tear-stained face.

_'I can't do this Tony. I'm not the CEO, I'm just your P.A!'_ She pointed out again sobbing.

Tony chewed on his lips nervously, he blamed everything on Howard anyway. How did he expect him to run a tech mogul? Tony Stark was a genius, billionaire and philanthropist but he wasn't a businessman. 

"That is a problem..." He muttered, scratching his beard carefully. Tony had to accept that he had been thinking about the SI a lot. An engineer could never run a conglomerate. Not a chance, someone really needed to take over the mantle as the head of SI.

"Any chance I can tempt you with a promotion?" He asked her sheepishly. 

The blonde rubbed her eyes a bit and stared at him looking half confused, half concerned. He grinned at her persuasively and said "Pepper Potts, CEO of STARK Industries..."

The blonde clapped her palms to her mouth in shock and shot him a bewildered look. Tony just beamed at her happily. He had been thinking that Pepper was way too talented to be a stupid personal assistant anyway.

He got up and placed his arm on both her shoulders and initiated her "Rise. The new CEO of SI."

She gave him a shaky laugh and sat in her seat frozen, for a while. Finally, she stood up and signed at him with a tearful smile _'You can ask me for help with Steve, by the way.'_   
\-------------------

Steve dropped the spoon in his hand with a loud clang on hearing someone shout. He soaked the spilt soup with a tissue and looked to his left.

"Look, whose drinking soup!" Tony announced walking in with Natasha and Bucky lurking behind him.

He smiled at him softly. To be honest, he had missed the brunet way too much last week. It was much more fun having someone spontaneous for a change.

Not that he was complaining, of course not. The whole house was spoiling him rotten, even the senior citizens who hardly knew him had gotten into it. But it was weird not having Tony around for more than a few days. He had to admit grudgingly that he felt terribly lonely cooped up in the house. 

Especially when the others went to work, he wanted to go out and be useful too but Bruce kept going on that he was still frail and weak and needed rest.

Tony watched Natasha, Bucky and Steve converse for a while and shrugged as Steve signed at them that he didn't need a babysitter.

Bucky and Natasha had decided to celebrate their feelings with a date. To his surprise, they had asked for him, actually Natasha had asked for him to keep an eye on Steve for the night. Barnes had just hung in the background, growling every now and then. 

Tony kept himself busy with the Starkpad in his hand, until Barnes wished his brother goodbye with a hug. The way he was acting, Tony might have thought he was leaving Steve forever and not for a date.

Then again, he noticed Steve looked weaker than the last time he had seen him. The bags under his eyes almost resembled bruises and his skin looked sallow and pale. Tony could swear the only reason he was not in bed because of sheer stubbornness. 

"Miss me, Captain?" Tony asked as he closed the door, finally settling down on the chair next to the blond.

He chuckled and signed at him _"Were you away? I didn't notice..."_

  
Tony let out a loud sigh and dramatically wiped invisible tears of his eyes, acting as though his words had stabbed him on the chest.

"Nice shot, sassy pants." He told him rolling his eyes and pulled the huge pot of soup towards himself.

Steve bit his lip trying not to laugh as he grimaced rubbing his throat after taking a spoonful of the soup. He stuck his tongue out in disgust and asked "What the hell is this crap!"

 _'It's healthy, Mr Stark'_ He signed at him, his blue eyes filled with glee.

"No wonder," Tony told him rolling his eyes.

They stalked around the kitchen for a while and talked a bit. It was mostly Tony who did the talking, as Steve reminded him that he must have more interesting stories than a man cooped up in a hole, like him.

It was when the moon showed up that Steve, ironically, broke his oath of silence and signed at him _'Wanna go up to the balcony?'_

Tony nodded enthusiastically. He was happy that Steve was coming down. As much as he liked the guy, it was a bit depressing talking to him about the SI, ignoring his clench his teeth and curl his teeth as pain throbbed inside his body.

He followed him up the flight of stairs and quickly put his hand on the small of his back as Steve jerked to a stop suddenly.

"You okay, bud?" He asked him in a voice which was not unkind.

The blonde took a few shaky breaths and climbed up the rest of the stairs, he signed at him finally _'Just a bit breathless,'_

"Well, I tend to have that effect on people..." Tony joke trying to lighten the mood. He felt warmth buzz inside him as the painted expression changed on Steve's face and was replaced by a playful grin, flashing all his pearly whites.   
\------------  
Tony sat beside Steve quietly as he carefully sketched the moonlit portrait of New York City.

He couldn't help but swoon over how beautiful the man next to him was as Steve gazed at the sky, his thick eyelashes fluttering and his ocean blue eyes reflecting the city.

Tony held his breath and wondered how long would it be before Steve let him in, let him kiss him on the lips at the least. He snapped out of his daze and looked back at Steve intently, as he signed at him.

_'I was engaged, before...this stuff happened,'_

Tony felt bile rise up his throat. What kind of a monster would leave him because he was hurt? Especially when it had happened because he had been a damn hero.

"Did she..." Tony asked anyway, as he watched Steve make deft strokes on his sketchbook with a graphite pencil.

He shook his head quickly and signed at him with a sad smile _'I made Peggy leave,'_

Tony felt a ton of coal drop on his stomach. The hope of kissing Steve seemed very far off now, he had pushed his fiańce away. What was the chance of him letting Tony in?

"Why would you do that, Steve?" He asked him, in a voice he hoped didn't sound as shaky to Steve as it felt to him. The blond pushed out a sigh and closed the book in his hand. Tony could swear he saw someone gazing at the moon in his book.

Steve slipped the sketchbook under the bench and signed _'I couldn't just steal her life, Tony.'_

Tony wanted to protest but it seemed like the blonde had sensed it too because he cut him off quickly , springing up from his seat _'I'm tired. I'm going to my bedroom,'_

Tony pursed his lips feeling a bit cross but he couldn't stop him either. Especially since he looked too weak to be doing anything but staying in his bed at the moment.

After reaching his bedroom, they had another heated argument over the sleeping arrangements. Steve argued stubbornly that he was a grown man and he could sleep alone.

Tony tried to convince him that he would just crawl up on the couch. Bucky had insisted for him to not leave Steve alone for a moment.

Finally, Steve pushed him off the room and slammed the door at his face. Tony sighed in defeat wishing he had J.A.R.V.I.S by his side and went to the guest bedroom.

He fell down on the bed, wondering why all the pretty blonde's acted the same way. High maintenance, stubborn and too nice. He shuddered but tried to get some sleep.

Tony tussled on the bed for a while. He didn't sleep well in his custom made bed and he really wondered if sleep would come to him in this cheap, mass-made excuse of a bed.

Sleep did come to him in a while but he snapped awake at midnight, drenched in sweat after having a dream of Obadiah Stane smirking at him, with his arc reactor in hand, so he must have fallen asleep at son point.

Tony wiped the sweat off his eyes, and touched his chest trying to find the arc reactor. He let out a sigh on feeling the faint whirring sensation in his chest and fell back to bed.

He tried to bury his face in the pillow trying to get some sleep. But insomnia just smiled at him like an old friend. He turned over lying on his back and tried to count sheeps. He tried hard but finally gave up when he was still wide awake at nearly a million sheeps.

He got out of the bed and slowly padded his way across the hall, wanting to check on Steve since he couldn't sleep. He went over to the bedroom, which was thankfully cracked open.

Tony felt the blood drain from his face as he glanced at the empty bed. He stopped the urge to hurl on the ground and cried out "Steve!"

He felt his heart miss a beat on seeing the blond's trembling hand rise near the bed. Tony gulped down his panic and scurried over to see the blonde tacked near the bed in a awkward angle, his chest heaving heavily and eyes unfocused.

Tony slowly put his hand on his face and yanked it back scared, it was burning hot. He quickly put his arms over the blonde's shoulder and shook him hard, shouting "Steve! Steve!"

Steve calmed down a bit training his eyes on Tony's. Tony gulped hard, he wished it was either Pepper or Banner or anyone else except himself. Steve's chest was still heaving too hard, his lips turning blue. Finally, he gazed at the water on the bedside table. Tony nodded getting a cup of water, he could do something.

He handed him the water and quickly dialled Barnes. He would probably murder him alive. Still, he could help Steve.

The line clicked on but the phone had fallen down from his hand. Turned out, you shouldn't give water to a person having a seizure. Steve was sputtering and choking on the water Tony had given him.

He somehow scooped the phone up from the floor with his frozen hands, trying hard to tear his eyes away from the, probably dying, blond.

He finally cleared his throat, trying to zone out Steve hacking his chest painfully beside him and blurted out "Cap's sick. Like really, really, really sick."

Tony waited for a while on the phone. He hoped hard that Natasha had heard him and was getting help, but, there was no way for him to know. He stared at the phone as the line stopped, feeling that his feet had frozen to the ground.

Tony finally nodded to himself, telling himself to brave and went over to the blonde. He took his hand, feeling lost for words.

For the first time since he was working with his father, Tony felt like a failure. What kind of genius couldn't even give someone first aid?

To his surprise, Steve's gripped his hand firmly. He looked up and shuddered as Steve shook his head microscopically.

"I'm so sorry." He choked out to Steve burying his face in his fist, as he started to cough out harshly once again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry about the terribly late update and I would like to blame it upon, the monster LIFE. I don't even know why the bitch hates me so much...
> 
> Anyways, it's prone to have typos and mistakes so I'm sorry for that. Also, I really hope you guys will enjoy the chapter and I'm not urging you or anything but I'd be happy to get any kind of feedback from my lovely readers.
> 
> So, feel free to twist and shout at me. Love y'all ❣❣

Natasha watched Bucky closely as she talked about Steve's condition with Bruce. It was the same as always, a small cold gone unhandled by his vandalized lungs. She felt a jolt in her stomach as Bruce explained it was the worst attack Steve had gone through in a while.

But she had to admit, even with her best friend stuck in ER with a tube down his throat, it was the wild look lurking in Bucky's eyes that was scaring her.

He looked wild, rabid and helpless, pacing around the hall unfocused. Natasha had realised a while back that fate hadn't been good to the man. First he had lost his left arm in action then he had also lost his brother at some point.

Natasha knew him well enough to know that more than having a metal arm, seeing his brother; who had been livelier than the day, struggling to survive was killing him.

"Jesus..." She muttered rushing forward as Bucky made a beeline for Tony who was sitting on a chair looking shaken with fear.

Bucky wasn't a bad person, no, not at all. He was even a very good person. But he wasn't the most forgiving person, he was cold and vindictive. He still held a grudge at Tony for speaking against soldiers years ago.

She had tried to remind him that Tony had taken his words back and even apologised for it. Still, the man believed that Tony was putting up a show for some bigger goal.

Tony snapped his head upon hearing Bucky's heavy steps but before he could react he felt his the soldier's fist curled around his throat like a noose.

He was thankful that it was his real arm and not his metal arm because it would have snapped his neck like a stick but the other arm was still strong enough to cut off his oxygen supply.

"Come on, use your words, buddy!" He choked out, tapping on the soldier's arm for timeout.

 _'You're damn right I will Stark. What did you do to him?'_ He signed furiously with the metal arm.

Tony groaned in pain as Natasha walked over quickly. Bruce seemed like he would turn into a rage monster any moment and squash all of their heads.

 _'If I see you hurt my brother again; I will make you wish you were never born.'_ He signed, his face turning so grim that Tony flinched hard.

He still wanted to call Barnes an asshole. Tell him that he was retarded, if he even thought that Tony would inflict any form of pain on Steve but all he could do was whimper helplessly, as his throat closed down and darkness started to creep into his eyes.

"James, let him go." Natasha snapped at her boyfriend in a tired voice.

This was the limit, she could deal with him grumbling to her that Tony probably didn't like Steve, let alone love him and was just using him to get a nice face in the media. But now he had gone and started threatening and manhandling the poor guy.

Bucky just ignored her angrily and kept Tony shoved against the wall. It was finally when Bruce snapped that he let go.

"Are you guys insane? Show some respect for God's sake!" The doctor growled glaring at Bucky.

Tony fell back into the chair sputtering and gasping to get his breath back as the man took a step back letting him go. He rubbed his throat feverishly, making a mental note to give Bruce a basket of muffins for saving his neck as the others argued in front of the ER door like maniacs.

Finally, it was Bruce who pointed out again standing near the doorway that screaming in a hospital wasn't a mature move, making all of them fall silent once again.

Bucky and Natasha went over to the doctor again, probably asking him if there was any news. Tony stayed back, feeling that it wasn't quite right for them to stand with them.

He wasn't Steve's brother or best friend. He was hardly a well-wisher.

Bruce threw him a solemn glance at him and then stared back at the Bucky and the redhead. Tony felt a rush of gratitude towards the doctor as he both talked and signed at once.

_'We got some of the fluid out of his lungs, his lungs are still on the verge of drowning. All we can do now is to let the antibiotics kick in and do their job.'_

Tony didn't know how he felt about the information. He was happy that Steve was under Bruce's skilled hands but he was intelligent enough to know that things could still go downhill.

He let out a shaky sigh and sank down to a chair, carding his fingers through his mop of hair. He felt the tension in the room cool down a bit but Bucky still looked murderous.

He twiddled with his watch sending Pepper a message as Bucky and Natasha started to argue about something again. Finally, the redhead pushed her lover out of the room and sat down next to Tony.

 _'What's up with Manchurian candidate?'_ He signed at her awkwardly.

She smiled at him and Tony was surprised to sense the kindness radiating in her soft smile. _'He's just scared for his brother, Tony,'_

Tony pushed out a painful sigh. He was tired of feeling guilty all the time, this time it wasn't even his fault. He shuddered rubbing his face feverishly.

 _'I know, you didn't do anything. You're an idiot but you wouldn't do anything to hurt Steve.'_ She signed at him, a playful smirk appearing on his lips.

Tony rolled his eyes at her but he couldn't even begin to say how much her words meant to him. He knew that she only wanted the best for Steve and wouldn't tell him everything was fine, if otherwise.

 _'Steve knows too,'_ She signed before she walked away.  
\-----------------

Steve pushed his crusty eyelids open painfully and groaned on feeling a tube stuck down his throat. He shuffled in what he supposed was the hospital bed and tried to push himself up, regretting it as his body crumbled back.

He fumbled at his aching chest for a moment but stopped quickly. He pulled his shirt up to see a tube in his chest and. shifted his eyes up slowly to see it connected with a bladder full of grey liquid.  
  
"Your lungs were drowning," A blond nurse with a kind smile said, he noticed how she had pressed on the word 'were'. He had learned over his months as a scarred veteran that people were more loving when you are as useful as a seat warmer.

He nodded a bit but stopped as the small action started off fireworks somewhere inside his head. He winced and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Hey, Steve-O." A hoarse whisper came into his ear. He turned his head to the side slowly to find Bucky beaming at him.

He smiled at him and reached his hand to touch him on the face. He felt a small relief as his fingers touched Bucky's skin, warm and soft as usual.

He didn't know why touching him was so relieving but it was something he had been doing since he was four or five.

Reaching out for Bucky as he lay curled up on a bed. It somehow reinforced the idea that he was alive, Steve guessed.

"You alright?" He asked him kindly.

Steve felt something burst in his heart in seeing his brother's eyes crinkled, his grey eyes on the verge of sparkling with tears.

One of the most appealing aspects about becoming a fit and healthy soldier was not letting Bucky down by falling sick.

Still years later, things were back to normal. He was lying half-dead in a hospital room with Bucky hovering over him.

He considered lying but for some reason decided against it, he shook his head, he was anything but okay. His whole body was inching with pain, his throat crying against the tube going in, settling uncomfortable against his already severed throat.

He had went through nightmares about shrapnel and bullets sinking into his throat, the gunfire pelting him, fighting through swarms of soldiers to rescue the civilians.

At some point, Steve was sure that he would have just preferred to let go and stop fighting for once and for all.

"Hurts?" Bucky asked him again.

He blinked, his body was throbbing with pain even with the meds. Although, the morphine did give him some fleeting relief.

He let out a small breath and leaned into Bucky as he carded his fingers through his hair carefully.

**'Steve' 'I'm so sorry...' 'I want to help you.'**

"What? Are you alright?" Bucky asked worried as he flashed his eyes open in shock.

He looked up at his brother in worry and signed _'Tony.'_

"Do you want me to call him inside?" Bucky asked him with a sceptical look on his face.

Steve felt weirdly pleased to know that Tony had stuck around for him. He wanted to see the smaller brunet and make sure he was okay. The last time he saw him, he was hyperventilating on the verge of a panic attack.

But his pride won him over, he didn't want Tony to see him like this. He couldn't even breathe on his own and somehow it mattered very much to him that it shouldn't be the image coming to Tony when he thought about him.

He shook his head and leaned back into the pillow as the morphine made another brave attempt to pull him back to sleep again.

****

Steve let out a muffled gasp of relief as the nurse, Jan, peeled the tube off his mouth and softly wiped the layer of perspiration covering his mouth softly.

"Alright, darling?" She asked him beaming, her eyes crinkling fondly.

He nodded, ignoring the fact that his body was still aching and it was only when the tube was out that he realised how much his lungs sucked at doing it its sole job.

She shuffled over talking to his bystander, probably Natasha or Bucky and walked off. Steve propped himself, letting his head rest against a stack of pillows and blinked confused in seeing Tony beam at him.

"Ice?" He asked showing him a styrofoam cup.

The blond nodded eagerly, his throat was parched from not having any liquid for days, let alone food. He opened his mouth hopefully and let out a groan as the crushed ice melted on his dry tongue.

 _'What are you doing here?'_ He signed at Tony weakly and happily accepted another spoonful of the crushed ice.

Tony shrugged looking a bit hurt but painted a smile on his face quickly. He glanced at Steve, his bright brown eyes full of conviction and asked "I'm your friend. Aren't I?"

Steve shrugged but nodded. Tony beamed at him again and said "I don't there is a question then,"

Tony could be his friend, Steve decided. A friend was what he exactly needed. Not a big brother or a caretaker, just a good friend.

His theory was proven true when Tony continued to animatedly chat with him about SI and their latest projects. By now he knew about DUM-E, U and Mark I, by the time he reached the topic of arc reactor, Steve's head felt like it would split open with pain. But, the man was so excited that Steve didn't have the heart to tell him he was giving him a headache.

It was finally his nurse, Jan who scolded Tony and told him that he was probably giving Steve a migraine. They both turned to look at him doubtfully and he couldn't get help but crack a guilty smile at them.

"Fuck." Tony swore under his breath but before he could turn on his panic mode, Steve snatched his hand and squeezed it firmly.

He mouthed him a thank you giving him a fond glance before turning back and burying his head in the bed. Finally, letting exhaustion take him over.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I somehow ploughed through and got a new chapter up so YaY that! Also, I really hope that at least some of you enjoy reading the story...
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading my fic and please go on and twist and shout at the comment section or my Tumblrs; 
> 
> prince-of-midgard or starkspangledsoldier

It didn't take a genius to realise that Steve wasn't happy talking to anyone except Bucky, Natasha and Tony.

Bruce had been adamant to keep Steve in the hospital and keep a close watch in him much to the blonde's despair.

After a lot of begging and pleading the doctor had succumbed allowing him to go home. Ordering him to obey all of his precautions.

Tony was amazed to see the amount of people who came by to pay Steve a visit. Natasha explained that it was mostly army people who would have been dead if it wasn't for Steve.

Tony bit his tongue as his mind hovered over to how pathetic it was that Steve used to be an American hero and now he wasn't even allowed to live a full life.

Steve didn't do well with pity or even empathy to be completely honest. So, Tony decided to keep his mouth shut.

He had failed to hide a giggle when a guy in his unit came to visit and Steve who had been asking him about DUM-E and U till the very moment, fell into the pretence of a deep slumber as the guy walked in.

"You son of bitch," Tony had cursed at him colourfully and was even lucky enough to be treated back with a cocky smile.

The other times with the blonde did not go over very happily. A prime example could be the time when Natasha asked him to get some food inside Steve and Tony had volunteered for the job like an idiot, ending up with what could be later described as a minor panic attack.

"Eat Steve. It's not like I'm asking you to eat the bland hospital food," Tony coaxed truthfully.

He hated hospital food. He remembered how depressing the food was when he had been stuck in the hospital. He even remembered cursing the whole world when Pepper had stuck a spoon of runny, flavourless soup.

Realizing he liked Steve way too much to let him endure the wrath of the soup, he had asked Happy to pick up some soup from his favourite restaurant in the city.

Now he was sitting at the edge of the huge bed, with a bowl of his favourite soup, wagging a spoonful near the blonde's mouth.

Steve however was adamant on not accepting even a spoon of it. The blond had first signed no's stubbornly, even advancing to hitting Tony's hand away. Now, he was just staring at the wall, with a crease between his forehead as Tony loitered a spoonful near his mouth once again.

Tony bit his lip trying not to point out that the blonde was acting like a child. Instead, he tried "This is top class food, Rogers!"

He groaned as Steve shot him an angry glare and continued to stare to the front like Tony had mortally offended him.

Steve watched carefully as Tony demonstrated having soup by taking a spoonful and smacking his lips. He had been feeling queasy since the moment he woke up and had remained silent, not wanting to send Bucky into a panic attack over him. Now, with the smell of the soup wafting into his nose. He had the feeling that he would be hurling out at any given moment.

He raised a hand to sign at Tony again but stopped quickly as the brunet let out a deep sigh and tried again "If you won't eat, I'll throw all of this costly food away."

Steve scowled at this, feeling his chest tighten with guilt. He had told Tony earlier with an embarrassed flush on his face that he had grown up poor. He had told him that he had to go to sleep without dinner somedays and that must be the reason he was so cross about wasting food.

Tony's lips curled up a bit on seeing the blonde's eyes soften a bit. He tore his eyes away from the empty wall and stared at Tony with a faint frown on his face.

Tony had the feeling that a gentle push might do the trick. He cocked his eyebrow and told him with a shaky grin "Besides, your brother will probably beat me into a pulp, if you don't eat."

Steve let out an angry scowl again but succumbed to accepting the spoonful of soup he offered. Even then Tony, had to both plead, taunt and manipulate for Steve to get most of the bowl inside him.

Tony had clapped himself on the back for getting half of the food inside him and went to call Pepper. Tony couldn't help but wonder what the fuck had happened to his life. Sure, he had given up the luxurious, no good, playboy life after Afghanistan. Yet, he was planning to give his life to science work on the arc reactor, tend to Stark Industries.

He had definitely not planned on spending his time with a sick veteran. Feeling heartbroken every time he went down or got stuck in the hospital.

Still, it was nice, he thought to himself as he climbed up the stairs. To be someone's anchor, he still couldn't help but feel warm over how Steve's crystal blue eyes gleamed as he came into the room.

Tony halted to a stop on seeing a woman almost rush inside Steve's room. The woman stepped back on seeing him and beckoned for him to go inside with a panicked look on her face.

Tony raced inside the room and stifled a low groan on seeing Steve's shirt and the blanket covered in vomit. Tony fought back the urge to protect his nose from the stinking smell. He glanced up at the blonde and quickly realized that it would crush the little self-esteem he already had.

"That's probably your lunch," he muttered and tried to move.

He wasn't brave enough to touch the soiled sheets but he didn't have the heart to let Steve sit like this either.

He was about to step over and do something when the brunette slipped her head inside the door and signed _'Can I come in to help?'_

Tony nodded or thought he did. He was so confused and scared that his brain decided to shut him out of his body. He took a step back as the stranger strutted over to the bed and coolly swiped the blanket away from the bed.

It wasnt weird to see strangers in the building, there were always volunteers, humanitarians, even church people waiting to pounce on a chance to help the _needed_. Tony watched quietly and it was when the woman turned around and he caught sight of her ruby red lips and intense brown eyes that he understood who she was.

_Peggy Carter._

She didn't want to wait for him and went to wash the sheet in the bathroom. He looked over to the bed to see Steve had squeezed his eyes shut, once again the crease between his eyebrows told him that he wasn't asleep and was trying hard to zone out from his reality.

He swallowed the lump in his throat painfully and went outside the room where Peggy was hanging the wet bedsheet.

"Hello." He croaked out in a small voice.

She whipped her head around while smoothening the sheet and gave him a kind smile.

 _'I can't believe my luck. Had to come in at his worst.'_ She signed at him with a painful look in her brown eyes.

Tony nodded, he was sure this wasn't Steve's worst. He had seen him in much more pain, but this definitely must have been his most humiliating, Tony was sure.

He couldn't think how crushed he would have felt, to be lying on a bed covered in his own vomit when Tiberius Stone paid him a visit.

Then again Tiberius wouldn't have made it more embarrassing by being kind and caring like Peggy. He would have laughed at his face reminding why he deserved it.

"He couldn't keep his lunch down. It seems." He told her awkwardly and joined her in leaning against the railing.

' _Do you_ _have any idea how he was before?'_ She signed at him, licking her lips with a pained sigh.

Tony shrugged again. He knew Steve Rogers was more than a good soldier. All the medals and badges in his room were more than enough for a proof. He knew he was a good man too. He turned to Peggy and stared at her blankly.

She swallowed hard and signed _'He saved so many lives. The whole country's_ _indebted to him, let alone our troop.'_

Tony nodded awkwardly. He knew that but not in the way Peggy and his troop knew. So, he just looked a her intently. She let out a huff and signed quickly _'Just remember. He doesn't deserve any of this,'_

Tony stood back for a moment as the woman went in again. He slowly followed her inside and waited with his fists in his pocket as she carefully took Steve's shirt off. It was hard to take it off without hurting all the wires and monitors that Bruce insisted to be hooked up on the blonde.

Tony shifted his eyes down and went to get him a change of dress as Peggy stripped Steve off his shirt. Even with all the shit he had gone through, Steve had a commendable physique but Tony couldn't handle how pale and scarred it was.

He excused himself and opened Steve's wardrobe. He almost took a shirt off the hanger but put it back in. He could feel that Steve would decline the shirt and ask for something that covered his vandalized throat.

 _'Wouldn't a shirt be easier?'_ Peggy signed at him with confused look in her eyes as he handed her a turtleneck.

Tony simply shook his head and told her "Believe me, it won't."

After that Tony went outside and texted Pepper. He knew she would be worked up over his absence, waiting to tell him who owned the Stark Industries. He knew Pepper was capable enough to handle the SI but he couldn't help but admit he was missing his lab way too much. His wishes were thoroughly contradicting. Maybe all he wanted was Steve by his side when he worked on one of his Mark projects or something.

He went back into the room after a while to see Peggy carefully stroke Steve's face as she wished him goodbye with a kiss. He gave him another one of her kind smiles before leaving him alone with Steve.

Tony went over to his bed and asked him with a valiant effort to sound confident "You up soldier?"

Tomy sighed missing his lab and Dum-E more than ever as Steve continued his streak of silence, staring at the ceiling.

"It's okay. If you want I'll tell you about the time I peed in my suit," Tony told him, trying to sound as upbeat and cheerful in the darkroom with only a night lamp on.

Steve pursed his lips and continued to stare at the ceiling. Tony gritted his teeth feeling his patience falter, it wasn't his fault that Steve threw up. All he was doing was trying to help and then again Steve had to act like an asshole.

"Would you stop acting like an asshole! I know that you don't deserve any of this and you're a good person. A hero. Really. But that doesn't mean you-"

Tony stepped back in shock as one of Steve's huge fist met against his face. Of course in the state he was, it didn't hurt very much. Still, Tony had the feeling that the blond wanted to deck him in the jaw.

Hilarious. The guy who he had a crush on wanted to deck him in the jaw. Just fucking hilarious. He curled up his trembling fists and whipped his head up to argue with the blonde but all that came out was "St-Steve?"

He felt the blood drain off his face on seeing the blonde's eyes sparkling with tear. Tony slowly stepped over and took his hand but Steve yanked it away with all the strength he could muster.

 _'I would have told you I was feeling sick,'_ He signed at him blinking back tears as Tony watched on confused.

_'I would have told you I was too sick to eat. I knew I would throw up!'_

He signed at him again. His face was as red as embers of the firplace beside them. Tony couldn't even say if it was from anger or frustration.

 _'But you didn't ask me. You went on decided yourself. You thought I didn't know what was best for me.'_ He signed again tears spilling out of his eyes without permission.

Tony swallowed hard, he felt like a complete asshole. He hadn't even thought about it from Steve's side. He had thought he knew better and forgot that Steve was still a grown man.

He looked back at Steve's angry and tense figure, afraid that he might start crying too. He cleared his throat "I didn't-"

_'I know I can't lead missions or save lives or even go out without someone hovering over me. Still, I think I should at least be allowed to decide something for myself.'_

Tony just stood there like an ice sculpture as Steve turned away from him and glared at the wall. He had messed up, big time.

He turned back on feeling someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Natasha staring at him with an apologetic smile on her face. He wondered if she had seen everything that happened but she still looked breathless from her mission and was even wearing her stealth suit.

 _'You can go home if you want.'_ Natasha signed at the genius trying hard not to be unkind. The man looked dishevelled.

He nodded and took off as though he had been waiting for an escape. She watched him go confused, he was always eager to stay with Steve.

She quietly sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked the blonde's arm. He quietly stroked his arm for a while and finally asked "Steve?"

To her surprise, he gently turned to her and slowly buried his head on her thigh. She sighed and ran circles on his back.

Natasha still found it hard to believe that this was the same person who strategized plans and led their team fearlessly.

Steve Rogers was supposed to be a reckless daredevil, not this man who needed help to get out of bed. She cleared her throat trying to stifle a ragged sob. Her heart broke all over again on seeing his shoulders shake.

She gently pushed him back and cupped his tear-stained face in her hand. She scanned his face fearfully and asked "What happened Steve?"

Natasha leaned over and pulled at the blanket so it would properly cover Steve. He had fallen asleep on her lap after telling the horrible details about the meeting with his   
ex-fiańce.

She looked up hearing heavy footsteps and smiled at her boyfriend. He nodded at her and stared at his brother with crossed arms.

Natasha could almost read his thoughts out loud and told him firmly "Don't blame Stark."

Bucky growled at her "He was fine, till he dragged his ass over here."

Natasha sighed "No, he wasn't, James,"

Bucky stomped over and snapped "Yes-"

Natasha crossed him off angrily, she was tired of both James and Steve pretending everything was okay when they were far south from being remotely okay.

"James, please. Everyone knew that you were pretending that everything was okay and Steve was..." Before she could complete what she was saying Steve was stirring in her lap mumbling his brother's name.

She sighed helplessly as James crouched down to him and took his hand. Natasha wondered how many more incidents it would take for at least one of the brothers to realise there was no shame in asking for help.


	8. Chapter 8

"He doesn't want to see Stark again, Nat!" James growled at the redhead as Steve sat on the bed hugging his knees to his chest.

Natasha rolled her eyes at him and shot Steve a look. He shrugged, curling into himself but didn't sign her a single word. She arched an eyebrow at him but he just shook his head.

Natasha sighed hard and strolled over shoving Bucky out of the room. She turned a blind eye to his protests and slammed the door at his face, locking Steve and herself inside the bedroom.

She stared at the blond for a moment and went down, sitting cross legged below the bed. She gave her friend a reassuring smile and took his huge hands in her smaller ones.

"You'll listen to me. Won't you Steve?" She asked him in a soft voice. He nodded staring at their hands which were now entwined.

"It wasn't Tony's fault. Sometimes we forget things but he didn't want to-"

 _'I don't blame him,'_ He signed at her weakly.

Natasha stopped talking quickly. She stared at him perturbed, all this time she had been under the impression he was still angry at Tony.

 _'I know I was being pathetic. I want you to apologise on my behalf too,'_ He signed at her again, burying his face in his hands in frustration.

Natasha was confused now. Steve regretted his actions, he even wanted to apologise to Tony. She was sure Tony would understand that Steve had broke down once. It wasn't like he was always tormenting Tony or anything either.

"Then what's wrong Steve?" She asked stroking circles on his palm.

Steve shook his head, as though telling her not to worry. Natasha knew him way too well to leave it like that, his eyebrows were furrowed, drawing a deep crease between them. It was the same look he wore when he was asked to send his troops to place he didn't want to. The same look he wore when she and James had hit a particularly rough patch in their relationship. The fucking look he wore when he waited through his brother's operation.

They both jerked their head back on hearing loud noises. Clint and his kids were coming to visit, Natasha thought to herself. It was good to occasionally have some noise in the silent building.

The building was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. The other inhabitants rarely came out of their rooms. Steve hardly did anything but stay in bed and Natasha and James hardly did anything but wait with him.

Someone had put on the radio because a song was blaring out, loud enough to reach their room

 ** _Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high_**  
 ** _There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby_**...

She squeezed Steve's hand to get his attention. He let out a pained sigh and signed at her, his face crumpling with misery as he worried his lip between his teeth.

_'I'm scared I'll fall for him,'_

**_Oh, somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue_ **   
**_Clouds high over the rainbow, makes all your dreams come true, ooh_ **

"Would that be so bad?" Natasha asked him gently. She had already known that Steve would fall for Tony and vice versa too, but she hadn't expect for it to happen so soon.

He shook his head so frantically that for a second she was scared he would develop a migraine or something.

 _'I like him way too much to let him suffer. He doesn't deserve that. Tony's a good man.'_ He signed at her, slowly letting his eyes trail away from hers.

"Nobody could ever suffer because of you, Steve." Natasha sprang up from the floor cupping his face close to hers.

It didn't help her, James's, Peggy's or anyone's conscience that he had taken the hit for them. If he had been selfish like the others, he would probably be still in the army only he would have been a major or lieutenant colonel or something.

She felt her heartstrings pull, she wanted him to feel that he was no less of a person because of his...condition.

Natasha tried not to wince as a foreign expression of wild rage flashed past the blonde's face. He looked like he wanted to strangle her for a moment.

_'Stop lying! I've heard you and the other's talk. I know who I am and who I'm not now...'_

By the time he had finished signing his anger was drained and replaced by despair. She swallowed hard, she had no words of comfort for him as he buried his face on her shoulder. Natasha pursed her lips trying to fight back her emotions as she carded her long fingers over his golden locks.

**_Someday I'll wish upon a star_ **   
**_Wake up where the clouds are far behind me_ **   
**_Where trouble melts like lemon drops_ **   
**_High above the chimney top_ **   
**_That's where you'll find me, oh..._ **

**_***_ **

Tony Stark hated everything. He hated Star Trek. He hated sad movies. He hated everything, but most of all he hated music.He couldn't help but be depressed over the fact that he could no longer hear AC/DC or Black Sabbath while he worked in his lab.

Furthermore, he hated thay the lyrics of a stupid song was jammed inside his head.

**_Someday I'll wish upon a star_ **   
**_Wake up where the clouds are far behind me_ **   
**_Where trouble melts like lemon drops_ **   
**_High above the chimney top_ **   
**_That's where you'll find me, oh_ **

He had heard the song on his mother's funeral and hated it ever since because of the same reason. The lyrics were somehow standing out to him now.

He wanted another world where Steve was completely healthy. Maybe a world in which he was a super hero and a serum would run through his veins that would make the blonde invincible. He could transform his code name into his superhero name too, Captain America.

Tony would be a superhero too. He'd finally figure out how to mobilise his Mark. The suit would let him fly high and shoot repulsor beams too. He'd call himself Iron man.Iron Man and Captain America would fight side by side, all day long and get together when the sun finally fell.

**_I see trees of green and red roses too_ **   
**_I'll watch then bloom just for me and you_ **   
**_And I think to myself_ **   
**_Oh, what a wonderful world..._ **

That couldn't fucking happen because he was stuck in this shitty universe. Tony felt rage bubble inside him as he threw the paper weight breaking the vase on the table.

_**I see skies of blue, clouds of white** _   
_**The brightness of day, the dark, say goodnight** _   
_**And I think to myself** _   
_**Oh, what a wonderful world...** _

He bit his lip with a frown as a dishevelled Pepper walked in. He heaved a sigh, she would think he wasn't feeling his emotions correctly. He had been an idiot to tell her about what had actually happened with Steve.

She had told him it wasn't his fault but he shouldn't blame Steve either because he was being desperate. Tony just nodded, all he knew was the man whom he liked, hated him.

 _'Can I tell you something?'_ She signed crouching down so that she could keep her arms on his lap.

He shook his head declining the kind offer but she was Pepper, so of course she continued, ignoring his words.

_'In this very unfortunate circumstance, you are the stronger man, Tony.'_

He scowled at her annoyed. Stronger man? Him? He should have probably told Pepper about the two drawers of medals the country had bestowed upon Steve. He was not half as strong as Steve Rogers.

 _'You have to show him that you love him. The current him.'_ Pepper signed again, her face going through the whole spectrum of emotions humans were capable of.

Tony groaned in dismay. If only things were thay easy.If only Steve weren't a stubborn asshole, who'd let Tony love him like Pepper had asked him to.

He wished Steve would be more like those tooty-frooty teenagers in love stories, where they just argued for one second and fell into their man's hand the other second. But those were just stories, right?

 _'He doesn't want to! Did you listen to anything I said?'_ He signed, Rolling his eyes in annoyance.

He scowled even louder when she slapped him hard in on his lap signing   
_'He thinks so Tony! Come on you can show him he's wrong! Everyone needs a hero to help them climb their biggest mountains. You have the chance to be the hero of his story!'_

Tony stared at the ground as he worried his lip between his teeth. Pepper could be extremely flattering when she wanted.

"Yeah?" He asked her after a while. She nodded _'Go be his hero, Tony,'_  
***  
"Shh! Focus uncle Steve!" Leila snapped yanking his head back with her small hands. He stifled a small chuckle as she yanked some of his hair back with a comb and started to braid.

 _'You think, she knows what she's doing?"_ He signed seriously at a six year old Nathaniel who broke into a fit of laughter.

It was very comforting to have Clint's kids around the house. They had learned ASL in an early age because of their father's partial deafness and they didn't seem to mind that he was mute, at all.

He let out a scowl as Leila clipped his hair back tight. She wandered over and stared at him, not taking an effort to withhold her delight on seeing her work.

"You are very pretty uncle Steve," She beamed at him, grinning proudly. Swatting his hand away as he tried to fathom what had happened to his hair.

 _'I've been told that sometimes,'_ he signed at her sagely, making her laugh more as she climbed into his lap and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. He beamed at her feeling fuzzy before returning her a kiss on the crown in her head before he heard a muffled voice tell him "I think I should have brought over Pepper's makeup kit, Rogers,"

Steve felt his breath falter on seeing the familiar coffee brown eyes. He cursed under his breath as he stared at Tony, not so gently.

The last person he wanted to see now was Tony. This was the worst thing that could be happening, Tony swaggering in and making Steve fall for him once again.

He pursed his lips and frowned at the other. He must have looked pretty stupid frowning, with a butterfly clip securing the braids in his hair, Steve thought to himself as Tony chuckled.

 _'Why are you here?'_ He frowned standing up after Leila.

The blond unclipped his hair. Shoving it to the front and and pushing it back. He glanced up at Tony again, trying to be unfazed by the act he put up of swooning over Steve.

 _'Tony.'_ He signed again, this time grabbing hold of the brunet's arm and grimacing at him. To his surprise Tony stared back into his eyes bravely and curled his lips into a smooth smile.

Steve tried to take his arm away to sign at the brunet but Tony ignored his whim and pulled him over. Steve stared at him with wide eyes, at the moment he was thankful Tony couldn't hear, because his heart was pounding loud enough to hear it from another room.

Steve felt a tinkle spread through his body as Tony got onto his toes and leaned over to plant a big kiss on his forehead.

Tony smirked on seeing the red tint on Steve's cheeks and muttered " I have decided it doesn't matter if you don't like me,"

Steve arched an eyebrow at the shorter brunet. He was plain confused. He did like Tony, very much, and why had the billionaire marched into his home to tell him all of this?

Tony placed a warm and calloused mechanic's hand on the side his face, holding back a snicker as the blond fought back a moan "Because, I do like you and there is nothing you can do about it, Steven Rogers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember this does not have a beta reader and is only one person's work. I'm very bound to make mistakes.
> 
> I'd be really thankful if you leave comments and kudos on the work!


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